Thoughts on meaningful cinema - old and new - from an avid film devotee. Tributes to directors, composers, cinematographers and other craftsmen. - Tom Hyland

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Online Film Critics' Poll - The Nominees Are...

Just after the Golden Globes ceremony and only a few days before Oscar nominations are announced, we have the nominees for the International Online Film Critics' Poll. These film awards like the others mentioned, award excellence in all the major categories, such as Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, Cinematography, etc. But what makes them different is the fact that this is a biannual award, so for this year, the eligible films are from 2013 and 2014. That means along with such current films as The Imitation Game, Foxcatcher and Birdman, such celebrated films from last year such as 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska and Her are also eligible.

This is the fourth time for these awards and this is the first time I have been asked to vote for them. I'm honored to be part of this process and it was quite a difficult decision coming up with only five nominees for each of the 14 categories. It was even more difficult to select a winner in many of these categories, although a few of them were relatively easy choices for me (such as Best Editing, see below). As a critic involved in these awards, I was able to nominate the films a few weeks ago and now this week, vote on the final nominees. Again, with only five nominees from each category over the course of two years, there were going to be numerous omissions. Take Best Actor for example. Steve Carell (Foxcatcher) and Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner) were not even among the final five choices - talk about a strong category!

So without further ado, here are the nominees. My selection is in bold:

Best Picture
12 Years a Slave
Birdman
BoyhoodThe Grand Budapest Hotel
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Ensemble Cast
12 Years a Slave
Birdman
BoyhoodThe Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game

Best Original Screenplay
Birdman
Boyhood
Calvary
HerThe Grand Budapest HotelBest Adapted Screenplay12 Years a Slave
Gone Girl
Snowpiercer
The Imitation Game
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Cinematography
BirdmanGravity
Ida
Nebraska
The Great Beauty

Best Production Design
Gravity
Her
Mr. TurnerThe Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game

Best Editing
Birdman
BoyhoodGravity
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game

Best Original Score
Gravity
Her
Interstellar
The Grand Budapest HotelThe Imitation GameBest Visual Effects
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
InterstellarGravity
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies